Bluetooth and WLAN coexistence architecture having a shared low noise amplifier

ABSTRACT

A radio frequency (RF) front-end configured to share transmissions and receptions of Bluetooth signals and WLAN signals. In an exemplary embodiment, the RF front-end comprises a first path coupled between an antenna and a transceiver dedicated to transmissions of the WLAN signals; a second path coupled between the antenna and the transceiver dedicated to simultaneous receptions of the Bluetooth signals and the WLAN signals; and a third path coupled between the antenna and the transceiver. The third path may be dedicated to transmissions only of the Bluetooth signals when a WLAN link is active; and transmissions and receptions of the Bluetooth signals when the WLAN link is active and in a power save state, and when the WLAN link is inactive.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/037,560, filed Mar. 18, 2008, assigned to the assignee of the present application, and incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The increase in the number of handheld platforms in the recent years has created a need to integrate multiple wireless networking technologies on one communication integrated circuit (IC). Of these, the two most widely used wireless networking technologies are wireless local area network (WLAN) (a.k.a., Wi-Fi) and Bluetooth. WLAN and Bluetooth both occupy a section of the 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (“ISM”) band.

Bluetooth is an industrial specification that can be used for wireless personal area networks (“PANs”). Bluetooth can be particularly useful when transferring information between two or more devices that are near each other in low-bandwidth situations. Bluetooth can be used to connect and exchange information between devices such as mobile phones, laptops, personal computers, hand-held computers, printers, digital cameras, and video game consoles. Common applications of Bluetooth can include wireless control of and communication between a mobile phone and a hands-free headset (e.g., a Bluetooth earbud), wireless networking between computers for certain applications, and wireless communications between a computer and input and output devices (e.g., mice, keyboards, and printers). Bluetooth uses Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (“FHSS”) and is allowed to hop between 79 different 1 MHz-wide channels in the ISM band.

WLAN refers to wireless technology based upon the IEEE 802.11 standards generally used for local area networking. Common applications for WLAN include internet access and network connectivity for consumer electronics. WLAN generally uses the same radio frequencies as Bluetooth, but operates using higher power, generally resulting in a stronger connection that can cover a greater distance. WLAN uses Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) instead of FHSS. Its carrier does not hop or change frequency, and is instead maintained on one channel that is 22 MHz-wide. There is room for 11 overlapping WLAN channels in the ISM band, but there is only room for three non-overlapping channels. This means that no more than three different WLAN networks may operate in close proximity to one another.

Because both WLAN and Bluetooth wireless technology share spectrum and can often be located in close physical proximity to one another, there is a likelihood that some interference will occur. While WLAN and Bluetooth technology can continue to function during interference, increasing levels of interference can result in a slowing of the data rate as more packets need to be resent. In some conditions of extreme interference, communications can cease altogether.

Although both WLAN and Bluetooth use the same un-licensed 2.4 GHz ISM band, the link layer protocol used for communication over each of these two technologies is very different. This poses a difficult problem for designing integrated circuits (ICs) and external logic components that are capable of running link layer protocols for both WLAN and Bluetooth. In other words, in order for the end-user to use both WLAN and Bluetooth on the same device simultaneously, these two technologies are required to coexist with each other both in time and frequency. Among others, appropriate Time Division Duplex (TDD) and RF isolation techniques are sought after to resolve this problem.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A radio frequency (RF) front-end configured to share transmissions and receptions of Bluetooth signals and WLAN signals. In an exemplary embodiment, the RF front-end comprises a first path coupled between an antenna and a transceiver dedicated to transmissions of the WLAN signals; a second path coupled between the antenna and the transceiver dedicated to simultaneous receptions of the Bluetooth signals and the WLAN signals; and a third path coupled between the antenna and the transceiver. The third path may be dedicated to transmissions only of the Bluetooth signals when a WLAN link is active; and transmissions and receptions of the Bluetooth signals when the WLAN link is active and in a power save state, and when the WLAN link is inactive.

In another embodiment, the system includes an antenna, a transceiver and a front-end coupled between the antenna and the transceiver configured to share transmissions and receptions of Bluetooth signals and WLAN signals. A switch is coupled between the antenna and the transceiver, and three paths are coupled to the switch: a first path coupled between the switch and the transceiver dedicated to transmissions of the WLAN signals; a second path coupled between the switch and the transceiver dedicated to simultaneous receptions of the Bluetooth signals and the WLAN signals; and a third path coupled between the switch and the transceiver. The third path dedicated to: transmissions of the Bluetooth signals when a WLAN link is active; transmissions and receptions of the Bluetooth signals when the WLAN link is active but in a power save state; and transmissions and receptions of the Bluetooth signals when the WLAN link is inactive; wherein the switch controls which of the first, second, and third paths to connect to the antenna.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a system architecture for coexistence of Bluetooth and WLAN in an electronic device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a RF front-end architecture according to one embodiment

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a coexistence architecture for WLAN and Bluetooth. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications to the embodiments and the generic principles and features described herein can be made. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.

The present invention is mainly described in terms of particular systems provided in particular implementations. For example, the system is described for use with wireless local area network (WLAN). However, this method and system may operate effectively in other implementations. For example, the systems, devices, and networks usable with the present invention can take a number of different forms, such as use with Wi-Max (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) technology. The present invention will also be described in the context of particular methods having certain steps. However, the method and system operate effectively for other methods having different and/or additional steps not inconsistent with the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a system architecture for coexistence of Bluetooth and WLAN in an electronic device. The system 10 includes an electronic device 12, a Bluetooth peer 14 and a WLAN access point or peer (WLAN AP/peer) 16. Electronic device 12 may be any device operative to utilize both Bluetooth and WLAN transmissions and receptions. The electronic device 12 may be generally any portable, mobile, or hand-held wireless electronic device having Bluetooth and WLAN functionality collocated on the same device. Examples of such electronic devices include cellular handsets, battery-powered media players, portable gaming consoles, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and ultra-low-power computing platforms.

The electronic device 12 may include an antenna 18, a radio frequency (RF) front-end 20, a Bluetooth and WLAN system-on-a-chip 22 (hereinafter referred to as SoC 22), and a host processor 24. The electronic device 12 can utilize a shared antenna 18 to maintain a Bluetooth link 28 with the Bluetooth peer 14, and to maintain a WLAN link 30 with the WLAN AP/peer 16. In other embodiments, more than one antenna can be used to provide the functionality of the antenna 18. The RF front-end 20 is coupled between the antenna 18 and the SoC 22, and the SoC 22 is coupled to the host processor 24.

In one embodiment, the RF front-end 20 and the SoC 22 may provide integrated Bluetooth baseband/RF and 802.11a/b/g WLAN for the electronic device 12. An example of the SoC 22 is a commercially available 802.11b/g 88W8688 WLAN/BT combo SoC from Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. The SoC 22 acts a transceiver for both WLAN and Bluetooth. The SoC 22 can be connected to a host processor 24 using either a unified host interface or independent host interfaces for WLAN and Bluetooth connections.

The SoC 22 includes transmit/receive (T/R) control logic 26 that controls operation of the RF front-end 20 to permit substantially simultaneous transmitting and receiving of Bluetooth signals and WLAN signals, as described below. The T/R control logic 26 may be implemented as software, hardware, or a combination of both.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the RF front-end architecture according to one embodiment, where like components from FIG. 1 have like reference numerals. Although the RF front-end architecture 20 is shown for use in electronic device 12 in conjunction with a SoC 22 transceiver, the RF front-end architecture 20 is also applicable to devices having other types of transceivers and collocated WLAN and Bluetooth devices.

In one exemplary embodiment, the RF front-end architecture 20 may include a switch 200, RF paths 202 a, 202 b and 202 c, a band pass filter (BPF) 208. The band pass filter (BPF) 208 may be coupled between shared antenna 18 and the switch 200 and may function to filter input and output signals to a desired frequency bandwidth.

Paths 202 a, 202 b and 202 c may be coupled between the SoC 22 and three transmit and receive (TX/RX) ports 204 a, 204 b and 204 c of the switch 200. Path 202 a and port 204 a may be dedicated to the transmissions of WLAN signals (WLAN TX). Path 202 b and port 204 b may be dedicated to simultaneous receptions of the Bluetooth signals and the WLAN signals (BT-RX/WLAN RX). And Port 204 c is shown dedicated to the transmission of Bluetooth signals only, but corresponding path 202 c may be dedicated to 1) transmissions only of Bluetooth signals (BT-TX) when a WLAN link is active, and 2) transmissions and receptions of the Bluetooth signals (BT-RX) when the WLAN link is active and in a power save state, and when the WLAN link is inactive.

The switch 200 may control which of the three paths 202 a, 202 b and 202 c to connect to the antenna 18. In one embodiment, the switch 200 may be implemented as a single pole triple throw switch (SP3T). The function of the switch 200 is controlled by signals C1, C2 and C3 from the T/R control logic 26 of the SoC 22. For example, C1 may cause the switch 200 to select port 204 a, C2 may cause the switch 200 to select port 204 b, and C3 may cause the switch 200 to select port 204 c.

In one embodiment, the path 202 a, which is dedicated to WLAN transmissions only, may include a power amplifier (PA) 210 that amplifies the WLAN transmissions. This boosts WLAN transmit power to the desired range.

In one embodiment, the path 202 b may include an amplifier and a divider. In one embodiment, the amplifier comprises a low noise amplifier (LNA) 212, although a distributed amplifier could also be used, and the divider 214 comprises a RF divider. In one embodiment, the divider 214 may comprise a RF divider. The divider 214 allows the path 202 b to receive WLAN signals as well as BT signals from the antenna 18, enabling the SoC 22 to receive the WLAN signals and the BT signals simultaneously in time. Since the incoming WLAN and BT receive signals suffer signal strength losses at the BPF 208, the switch 200, and the divider 214, the LNA 212 shared by the received Bluetooth and WLAN signals amplifies both of the signals to compensate for the loss of signal strength. The divider 214 splits the amplified Bluetooth and a WLAN signals output by the LNA 212 onto a WLAN receive path 216 and a Bluetooth receive path 218. The WLAN receive path 216 coupled to the SoC 22, while the Bluetooth receive path 218 is used an input of Path 202 c for Bluetooth receptions. In one embodiment, the LNA 212 may amplify the received Bluetooth signals and the WLAN signals by approximately 14 dB, while the divider 214 may result in a loss of approximately a −3.5 dB on both the WLAN receive path 216 and a Bluetooth receive path 218.

In one embodiment, the LNA 212 may have two input controls, an enable (EN) signal 224 and a bypass signal 226, both originating from the T/R control logic 26. The enable signal 224 can both enable and disable the LNA 212, such that the LNA 212 can be switched OFF to reduce overall current consumption of the RF front-end 20 whenever Path 202 b is not selected. The bypass signal 226 may cause the Bluetooth signals and WLAN signals to pass through the LNA 212 without amplification when Path 202 b is selected, but no gain is required. This is to avoid over-saturation of the WLAN and Bluetooth receive paths 216 and 218 within the SoC 22.

Bluetooth signals of paths 202 b and 202 c are further multiplexed using a switch 220, such a single pole dual throw (SPDT) switch. The switch 220 selects the Bluetooth receive path 218 when the RF front-end 20 is receiving Bluetooth signals on path 202 b, and selects the path 202 c when the RF front-end 20 is transmitting Bluetooth signals. Signal D1 228 from the T/R control logic 26 controls the selection of the switch 220. Signal D1 228 may be replaced by two separate (or derived) signals from the SoC 22 because in the embodiment where the switch 220 comprises a SPDT switch, two discrete inputs are required, in which case, the other input to the switch could be a logical NOT of the first input in some cases.

The output of the switch 220 may be coupled to a balun 222, which in turn is coupled to the SoC 22. A balun joins a balanced line (one that has two conductors, with equal currents in opposite directions, such as a twisted pair cable) to an unbalanced line (one that has just one conductor and a ground, such as a coaxial cable). In one embodiment, the balun 222 may be used to improve Bluetooth signal quality entering the SoC 22.

In one embodiment, the path 202 c serves three mutually exclusive functions. 1) When operating alongside the co-located WLAN AP/peer 16 and assuming an active WLAN link 30, the path 206 is dedicated for Bluetooth transmissions only. 2) When operating alongside the co-located WLAN AP/peer 16 and assuming an active WLAN link 30 but in power save state (i.e., a doze state), path 202 c is dedicated for both Bluetooth transmissions and reception. 3) When operating alongside the co-located WLAN AP/peer 16 and assuming an inactive WLAN link 30 (e.g., WLAN is switched OFF in device 12), path 202 c is used for Bluetooth transmissions as well as receptions.

The logic to switch the ports 204 a, 204 b, and 204 c on the switch 200 is within the T/R control logic 26 of the SoC 22. This logic is configurable depending upon the type of Bluetooth traffic, the type of WLAN traffic, and on the individual state of each of the two collocated Bluetooth peer 14 and the WLAN AP/peer 16 devices. Table 1 shows a logical truth table that could be used to implement the control signals C1, C2, C3, and D1 during different WLAN and BT states, where X means does not matter.

TABLE 1 WLAN WLAN WLAN TX TX WLAN RX RX BT awake BT OFF BT awake BT OFF C1 1 1 0 0 C2 0 0 1 1 C3 0 0 0 0 D1 X X X X Results Path 202a Path 202a Path 202b Path 202b

The columns in Table I show which of the paths 202 a, 202 b, and 202 c are used with the WLAN either transmitting (Tx) or receiving (Rx), and also with the collocated Bluetooth device 14 in either an Awake or a turned Off state simultaneously.

TABLE 2 BT TX BT TX BT TX BT RX BT RX BT RX WLAN WLAN WLAN WLAN WLAN WLAN awake sleep OFF awake sleep OFF SP3T C1 0 0 0 0 0 0 SP3T C2 0 0 0 1 0 0 SP3T C3 1 1 1 0 1 1 SPDT D1 1 1 1 0 1 1 Results Path Path Path Path Path Path 202c 202c 202c 202b 202c 202c

Similarly, Table 2 shows which of the paths 202 b, and 202 c are used when Bluetooth is transmitting (Tx) or receiving (Rx) and with the WLAN AP/peer 16 in either the Awake, Sleep or turned Off state. Awake states in the above two tables mean idle; in other words, the collocated device is powered up but is not maintaining an active link with any nearby device.

Table 3 shows possible examples of port transitions in switch 200. In this table, both WLAN and Bluetooth are in their respective Awake states. The transitions occur only when the SoC 22 decides to move between paths. For example, the first port transition is a transition from Bluetooth transmit to WLAN transmit. The reverse transitions also apply accordingly in the reverse direction for all the shown combinations.

TABLE 3 BT_TX → BT_RX → WL_RX → WL_RX → BT_TX → WL_RX -> WL_TX WL_TX BT_TX WL_TX BT_RX BT_RX SP3T C1 0 -> 1 0 -> 1 0 -> 0 0 -> 1 0 -> 0 0 -> 0 SP3T C2 0 -> 0 1 -> 0 1 -> 0 1 -> 0 0 -> 1 1 -> 1 SP3T C3 1 -> 0 0 -> 0 0 -> 1 0 -> 0 1 -> 0 0 -> 0 SPDT D1 1 -> X X -> X X -> 1 X -> X 1 -> 0 X -> 0 Results Path 202c Path 202b Path 202b Path 202b Path 202c Path to Path to Path to Path to Path to Path remains on 202a 202a 202c 202a 202b 202b

Below describes additional points about switch transitions. In one embodiment, there are no switch transitions for Bluetooth receive to WLAN receive, and for WLAN receive to Bluetooth receive. This enables simultaneous WLAN receive and Bluetooth RX, i.e., on-going receptions on one of these two paths 204 a or 202 c will not be interrupted due to a higher priority receptions expected on the other path. In one embodiment, the default state of the switch 200 is Path 202 b. Thus, the switch 200 will switch to Path 202 b if there are no other pending requests for transmissions or receptions.

A Bluetooth and WLAN coexistence architecture using a shared LNA has been disclosed. The present invention has been described in accordance with the embodiments shown, and there could be variations to the embodiments, and any variations would be within the scope of the present invention. For example, the present invention can be implemented using hardware, software, a computer readable medium containing program instructions, or a combination thereof. Software written according to the present invention is to be either stored in some form of computer-readable medium such as memory or CD-ROM, and is to be executed by a processor. Accordingly, many modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A radio frequency (RF) front-end configured to share transmissions and receptions of Bluetooth signals and WLAN signals, the RF front-end comprising: a first path coupled between an antenna and a transceiver, the first path dedicated to transmissions of the WLAN signals; a second path coupled between the antenna and the transceiver, the second path dedicated to simultaneous receptions of the Bluetooth signals and the WLAN signals, wherein: the second path comprises an amplifier coupled between the antenna and a divider, the divider having a WLAN receive output path and a Bluetooth receive output path coupled to the transceiver, the amplifier (i) is shared by the Bluetooth signals and the WLAN signals received from the antenna to amplify the Bluetooth signals and the WLAN signals to compensate for a loss of signal strength and (ii) outputs amplified Bluetooth signals and WLAN signals, and the divider splits the amplified Bluetooth signals and WLAN signals onto a WLAN receive path and a Bluetooth receive path; a third path coupled between the antenna and the transceiver, the third path dedicated to: transmissions only of the Bluetooth signals when a WLAN link is active; and transmissions and receptions of the Bluetooth signals when the WLAN link is active and in a power save state, and when the WLAN link is inactive; and a switch coupled between to the antenna and the first path, the second path, and the third path to control which of the first path, the second path, and the third path to connect to the antenna wherein the amplifier receives a bypass signal originating from the transceiver, and wherein the bypass signal causes the Bluetooth signals and WLAN signals to pass through the amplifier without amplification when the second path is selected, but no gain is required.
 2. The RF front-end of claim 1 wherein the amplifier comprises a low noise amplifier.
 3. The RF front-end of claim 1 wherein the WLAN receive path is coupled to the transceiver, and the Bluetooth receive path is coupled to an input to the third path for Bluetooth receptions.
 4. The RF front-end of claim 1 wherein the amplifier receives an enable signal originating from the transceiver, such that the amplifier can be switched off to reduce current consumption of the RF front-end whenever the second path is not selected.
 5. The RF front-end of claim 1 wherein the second path and the third path are multiplexed using another switch that selects the Bluetooth receive path output by the divider when the RF front-end is receiving the Bluetooth signals on the second path, and selects the third path when the RF front-end is transmitting the Bluetooth signals.
 6. A method for providing a radio frequency (RF) front-end for sharing transmissions and receptions of Bluetooth signals and WLAN signals, the method comprising: providing a first path coupled between an antenna and a transceiver, the first path dedicated to transmissions of the WLAN signals; providing a second path coupled between the antenna and the transceiver, the second path dedicated to simultaneous receptions of the Bluetooth signals and the WLAN signals; providing the second path with an amplifier coupled between the switch and a divider, wherein: the amplifier (i) is shared by the Bluetooth signals and the WLAN signals received from the antenna to amplify the Bluetooth signals and the WLAN signals to compensate for a loss of signal strength and (ii) outputs amplified Bluetooth and WLAN signals, and the divider splits the amplified Bluetooth and WLAN signals onto a WLAN receive path and a Bluetooth receive path; providing a third path coupled between the antenna and the transceiver, the third path dedicated to: transmissions only of the Bluetooth signals when a WLAN link is active; and transmissions and receptions of the Bluetooth signals when the WLAN link is active, but in a power save state, and when the WLAN link is inactive; providing a switch coupled between the antenna and the first path, the second path, and the third path to control which of the first path, the second path, and the third path to connect to the antenna; and inputting a bypass signal originating from the transceiver into the amplifier, wherein the bypass signal causes the Bluetooth signals and WLAN signals to pass through the amplifier without amplification when the second path is selected, but no gain is required.
 7. The method of claim 6 further comprising providing a low noise amplifier as the amplifier.
 8. The method of claim 6 further comprising coupling the WLAN receive path to the transceiver, and coupling the Bluetooth receive path to an input to the third path for Bluetooth receptions.
 9. The method of claim 6 further comprising inputting an enable signal into the amplifier, such that the amplifier can be switched off to reduce current consumption whenever the second path is not selected.
 10. The method of claim 6 further comprising multiplexing the second path and the third path using another switch that selects the Bluetooth receive path output by the divider when the RF front-end is receiving the Bluetooth signals on the second path, and selects the third path when the RF front-end is transmitting the Bluetooth signals. 